Federal Officials Seek to Regulate Children’s Playgroup

So you and some of your friends or people from your neighbourhood like to get your kids together for playdates on a weekly basis so that you each get some free babysitting by having one parent watch the entire group. While that might have seemed like an innocent idea, according to government officials in Washington, DC, arrangements like this are a violation of the law. Bureaucrats in D.C. have begun cracking down on what they call an illegal “child development facilities” operating without a license.

A group of parents created an informal playgroup back in the 1970s for their toddlers in D.C. in a room of a nearby church. For 45 years, generations of 2-year-olds enjoyed three-hour playgroups one to three times a week through the Capitol Hill Cooperative Play School. There is no paid staff as the parents take turns watching the group.

Some federal officials are now trying to regulate the program, including a requirement that parents obtain a license. Parents in D.C. and everywhere else should consider the broad ramifications of allowing the government to exert any kind of control whatsoever over these kinds of voluntary playgroups.